Fun of Good Old Japanese - 江戸・明治に学ぶ　楽しむ生き方

Observing children and adults in Ikarigaseki 碇ヶ関で子どもの遊びと親子関係を観察 Letter 28 IKARIGASEKI 碇が関 , AOMORIKEN, August 2   She experienced heavy ra in in Ikarigaseki. The bridge was washed out. People crossed the river with water up until their shoulders, while horses also with water up until their backs .   Did she exaggerate?   She stayed at Ikarigaseki for four days because of the heavy rain. During her stay, she cured Japanese using her medicine, and mentioned hygienic status in Japan. “The absence of soap, the infrequency with which clothing is washed, and the absence of linen next to skin, cause various cutaneous diseases, --“ , it’s bad. Ikariga-seki、碇ヶ関（October, 2020） 　 橋が壊れるような大雨の中、人は肩まで、馬が背まで水につかりながら川を渡ったというが、本当かな。彼女は豪雨のために、碇が関で四日間足止めを食らう。イザベラは持参した薬で日本人を治すが、日本の衛生環境について、石鹸がない、服を洗わない、肌着がないのが日本人に多い皮膚病の原因だ、と書いている。 Japanese children   She wrote about the play of children. I guess the children whom Isabella met were probably ordered to be decent, s...

Stay in Akita and inland journey again 秋田での滞在、そして再び内陸の旅 LETTER 24 KUBOTA, July 25   She was in Akita (new name of Kubota) because of the bad weather. She had a chance to attend the wedding ceremony and she wrote in detail.   天候が悪くイザベラは秋田にとどまっている。結婚式に出て、詳細に記録する。 Japanese traditional wedding ceremony 、住吉大社 LETTER 25 TSURUGATA, July 27   She went to see a traditional Japanese festival and described “---half the people of Kubota--- hundreds of children---, little girls, formal and precocious looking, with hair dressed with scarlet crepe and flowers ---, groups of men and women, never intermixing, stalls driving a “roaring trade” in cakes and sweetmeats, women making mocha as fast as the buyers ate it” . People dressed up, went to the festival and bought various finger foods which were sold in many stalls. She added “---made up the cheeriest and most festal scene that I have seen in Japan.” Stalls in Kawasaki-taishi temple 、川崎大師のお正月 　イザベラは祭りのただなかに行く。 秋...

From Niigata to Akita via Yamagata, inland journey 新潟から山形市経由で秋田へ、内陸の旅   Isabella had planned to go to Hokkaido by ship from Niigata, and if she waited for a while, she could get on the ship. However, she selected the inland journey. She was a whimsical lady. 当初予定していた北海道への船便がしばらくなかったので、イザベラは新潟を立ち、中条経由で荒川に沿って、内陸部に入る。物好きだ。 LETTER 18 KAMINOYAMA   She encountered spectators, who had never seen a foreign lady, in every inn. She wrote her experience in Yonezawa where she stayed at “ daimiyo ’s room”. There were several excellent inns for daimyo lords in the post town in the Edo period, those are called “Honjin”. She stayed at the superior room of the former Honjin. However, she wrote “there was no privacy, for crowds climbed upon the roofs at the back, and sat there patiently until night.” Inside the “Honjin” in Kusatsu post town, Kusatsu Inn Headquarters 草津宿本陣 　 イザベラは旅を続けるが、行く先々宿屋で初めて外国の夫人を見る見物人に合う。米沢の旧本陣では、プライバシーがない、見物人が屋根に上って夜まで我慢強く待っている、と記している。  ...